The Joy of Killing
by Schingiuire Vristalica
Summary: Abraham hides more than one dark secret.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing nor its characters. **

**Note: Considering making this one multi-chapter. **

"Do you enjoy killing?"

Abraham looked up from his notes, turning to settle an icy blue gaze upon the vampire. Dracula sat against the far wall, arms bound behind his back and a short chain connecting him to the stone by his wrists.

"A rather odd question," Abraham finally answered after a moment, turning his attention back to the pages before him. "Is 'killing' an adequate description for what I do? The things I put into the ground are, like you, already dead."

Dracula shifted, drawing his legs beneath him so he rested on his knees. Only rags covered his lower half, bare feet scraping over the stone. "It gives you a thrill does it not?" he continued, head hanging slightly so that his face was covered by a veil of tangled, greying hair.

"That's why you have not yet killed me, even though it is very well within your reach." The vampire tilted his head, hair parting just slightly making the light of one eye visible like a single glowing coal. "It gives you a thrill. You love the power."

Abraham remained silent, narrowing his eyes as he focused on the page he held. It was not often Dracula spoke up of his own accord. Sometimes the ever quiet creature bothered him, the way it always watched, tracking his movements like a predator calculating a kill. However, most times the vampire did speak Abraham could not help but wish the thing would stay silent.

"Do you enjoy their screams as they burn to dust at your hands?" Dracula let out a soft purr, the chain clinking as he shifted, leaning forward. "Do you think about them at night while you lay with your wife?"

"Enough!" Abraham's voice cracked through the air like a whip. "I will hear no more from you tonight."

Dracula chuckled, a grin filled with too many jagged teeth spreading over his face. With easy grace, he stood, taking the three steps from the wall his chain allowed. "Or is it my screams you want to hear? "

Abraham ground his teeth, knowing very well that the vampire was baiting him. He did not have full control, or much of any control for that matter, over the beast. Dracula was baiting him, trying to make him slip and the moment he least expected it and let his anger rule his mind the vampire's teeth would sink into his throat.

"What I would like to hear from you is cooperation and silence," Abraham replied, his voice a tone of calm and control. "Crawl back into your corner and sleep or watch, for it's all you're able to do now."

Dracula tilted his head to the side, a low whispered growl tingling in his throat as he backed up, sliding down the wall to sit once more.

"You wish to make me your puppet," the vampire commented. "Is that your thrill then? Having me crawling at your feet like a dog?"

Abraham sighed, dropping the page he had been trying to work on and pinching the bridge of his nose with the thumb and forefinger of a hand. "If I feed you, will you be silent?"

"Would it not be in my better interest to distract you from your papers?" Dracula grinned, adjusting his shoulders as he clenched his hands against their restraints. It was rare he was actually able to rile Abraham so well. He would need to remember this conversation and the comments Abraham responded so loudly to.

The human glared at him, one hand tapping idly against the pages on his desk. "It would be in your better interest to not annoy and distract me at all."

"Would it?" Dracula leaned his head against the stone wall behind him, glittering red eyes gazing at the ceiling above, counting the stones as he had every night out of sheer boredom.

Abraham took the vampire's sudden silence as an acceptance of his threat and returned to his work, plucking up a pen to make alterations on his designs.

"Do you kill because you truly believe you are protecting people?" Abraham sighed as Dracula spoke up again, and he turned to meet eyes with the creature watching him carefully.

"I kill your kind because you do not belong in this world." This was a pointless conversation, meant to stall the inevitable future.

Dracula smirked, tilting his head to the side. "To protect people who don't care and will never appreciate your sacrifice. My kind kills because it is our nature." A grin spread again over the thin lips. "And because it's fun."

Sighing, Abraham finally put his pen down, pushing his papers back once it became clear he wouldn't make any progress tonight. "You're comparing me to a vampire then? You think I kill the undead because it's fun?"

"Maybe you started believing it was duty, but now you do it for fun. A king on his own personal fox hunt." Dracula smirked, dry lips peeling away from his jagged teeth. "So quickly you dismiss any amoral description of yourself, but really Professor, you cannot hide your true nature from me. I'm the very embodiment of it."

Abraham allowed himself to lean back on the wooden chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he observed the vampire. This was another game of will, one with words and wit. The creature was challenging him. "Yes, I do enjoy eliminating your kind from this world."

Dracula shook his head slowly, leaning forward with a grin. "No, no," he purred. "You enjoy the hunt. You enjoy the moment when you take a life. Have you ever killed a human?"

Though he should have expected such unorthodox inquiries from his captive, the question caught him off guard. "No," Abraham replied, a soft quaver entering his voice.

The vampire barked a laugh, sliding forward onto its knees to grin up to the man. "Liar," he hissed, teeth flashing in the lamplight. "You've killed men. Now I'm curious, tell me."

"No," Abraham growled, standing quickly. Fury raged within his blue eyes, directed toward the vampire, though Dracula could see though the gaze was locked upon him, it was looking somewhere else entirely.

Spinning on a heel, Abraham gathered his papers together. "Since you cannot stay quiet for more than a few seconds tonight, I will retire upstairs to complete this. Have a good night, Count."

"Who was it, Professor?" Dracula shouted as the door slammed closed. "I'll find out!"

The vampire's laughter followed Abraham as he returned to the upper levels, fighting to keep his own emotions under control.

"I'm sorry," he whispered under his breath, attempting to lock away a memory that would haunt him for the remainder of the night.


End file.
